62 THE PATH OF SCIENCE 



obtain knowledge but to make something work. He is, of 

 course, the inventor par excellence. Thomson was far more 

 of a scientist than Edison. He made a great number of in- 

 ventions, and his excellent organizing ability gave him a rank 

 in applied science that vies with that of Kelvin and Edison. 



To a very great extent, the choice of the subject on which 

 a scientist focuses his attention is a matter of fancy or even of 

 chance. Moreover, not infrequently he does not succeed in 

 reaching the end that he sought. Very often important dis- 

 coveries are made by workers who are not looking for them, 

 and great advances in science have arisen from a simple study 

 of natural phenomena. 



The great value of applied science has led to a school of 

 thought that argues that scientific discovery is only justified 

 by its application and that scientific research should, in fact, 

 be engaged in only when it can be applied. This doctrine 

 has been expressed very explicitly by some of the philoso- 

 phers of the Soviet Union. It is endorsed also by such writers 

 as Profe.ssor J. D. Bernal, who lays great stress upon the 

 "frustration" of science, by which term he summarizes his 

 belief that under a better (in his case, a collectivist) system 

 of society, the development and, especially, the application 

 of science would contribute more rapidly to the improvement 

 of human welfare.* The fact is, however, that it is quite 



* The origin of the feeling of frustration by experts such as Bernal is 

 discussed by F. A. von Hayek (The Road to Serfdom, p. 53, University 

 of Chicago Press, 1944). Von Hayek points out that "almost every one 

 of the technical ideals of our experts could be realized within a com- 

 paratively short time if to achieve them were made the sole aim of 

 humanity. There is an infinite number of good things, which we all 

 agree are highly desirable as well as possible, but of which we cannot 

 hope to achieve more than a few within our lifetime, or which we can 

 hope to achieve only very imperfectly. It is the frustration of his 

 ambitions in his own field that makes the specialist revolt against the 

 existing order. We all find it difficult to bear to see things left undone 

 that everybody must admit are both desirable and possible. That these 

 things cannot all be done at the same time, that any one of them can 

 be achieved only at the sacrifice of others, can be seen only by taking 

 into account factors that fall outside any specialism." 



